Stop This Florida Land Grab

May 29, 1985

Florida state Sen. Tom McPherson puts it this way: The issue ''is whether our children can swim and canoe.'' He's right.

What he's talking about is the Great Florida Land Grab. Phosphate companies, farmers and others are being allowed to take over thousands of acres of rivers and lakes that are supposed to belong to the public.

The outrage is that the Legislature is letting it happen. The legislative session ends Friday but the lobbyistlature is refusing to fix the law so that the state's rivers and lakes are kept in the state's hands.

How did Florida get in such a mess? It goes back to a 1963 law that was meant to simplify property transactions by reducing the time it takes to get a clear title to property. The law eliminated any claims and defects in deeds that had gone unchallenged for 30 years. No one thought to exempt the state's lakes and rivers, which Florida automatically acquired when it became a state in 1845. Who would think -- or even want -- to challenge that ownership?

Well, plenty of people do -- particularly the big phosphate companies. They jumped at the chance for a land grab. They already have grabbed 21 miles of the Peace and Alafia rivers in Polk and Hillsborough counties. An agriculture business has snared 2,100 acres of Lake Cypress in Osceola County. So far, the public has lost 50,000 acres of lakes and rivers to private hands. Another 3,000 lakes and 5,000 miles of rivers could end up with fences around them. That's about half of Florida's lakes and rivers.

The Legislature never intended the 1963 law to have this effect. It made a mistake. Nevertheless, the special interests are working fiercely to keep the error from being corrected. The phosphate industry, the Florida Farm Bureau, Associated Industries of Florida, home builders and real estate agents have brought in their big guns. It's the same old group that has been barking out its orders to legislators for years. The shame is that legislators still haven't mustered the courage to tell them no. No way.

The key votes on this issue will come in the state Senate. Harry Johnston, the Senate president, is the problem this time. Despite all his talk about managing Florida's growth, this candidate for governor can't bring himself to stand up for Florida's environment on this one. House Speaker James Harold Thompson doesn't want the situation corrected either, but he may let the House vote on the bill if the Senate passes it first.

So it's up to Harry Johnston and the Senate. They have a choice: They can stand up to the lobbyists or they become partners to the plundering of Florida.